Japanese Acupuncture, Phoenix, Arizona （日本鍼灸アリゾナ）

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona

Volume 3, No. 6:  December #2., 2011

Japanese Acupuncture (480) 246-0624

600 N. 4^th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

Chapter Three

Spleen:  Worry, Harmony, and Illumination  #6

As I wrote in my last newsletter, it is quite important to know who we are by knowing an exact sentence that follows “I am.”  However, as you are aware, the usage of “I” is a dualism.  “No sooner had he defined and delineated himself-then he was afraid.  Fear is the first response to being something, to imagining yourself…he wishes that there were someone else in the world.  So now comes desire.  First fear and then desire come right out of having said “I.” (Joseph Campbell:  Myths of Light).  Transcendence is the realm of non-dualism, free from differentiations and meanings.  We must go beyond concepts and symbols.  Unfortunately, transcendence cannot be taught.  We can only learn to walk on a right pass toward it (hence, the Dao – 道).

Each person has his/her own reality and experience.  Since intellectual is in the domain of dualism, only thing we have is an experience.  It is an experience of “This,” “It,” “Is,” and “Being.”  The universe does not have a meaning or a purpose, it only has This moment at the present time*1.  We fail to understand This because we use will and were, forgetting to live in the moment of now.  Worry is a great example.  If you are worrying about finance, change all your verbal sentences to the present tense, then money happens because you create possibilities of the future today.  Creativeness doe not happen in the future.  It only happens in the moment of now.  Worrying is procrastination, it only gives us future troubles and sorrows.  Since we are higher consciousness beings, we must strive to achieve This moment.  Ignorance is our worst enemy.

Since the Spleen is the Element of digestion, here are some psychosomatic symptoms associating with it.  Bear in mind, these are my own assessments.

            Diarrhea:                        fear*2, worry

            IBS:                                  rejection, abandonment

            Constipation:                 holding pattern (fear, worry)

            Ulcer:                              fear and anger (strong anger or hysteria)

Worrying reduces the digestive function and weakens the absorption rate of nutrients.  We feel weak and depressed since not much nutrients are absorbed.  My primary protocol for acupuncture is to increase the absorption rate and smooth out the digestive function.  For the purpose, I usually start from the front side (supine position). 

My suggestion for all of you is to have natural herb supplements for the digestion in your medicine cabinet.  There are many Chinese herb formulas that are superior to any chemical medication.  If you have a weak constitution, you should also have digestive enzymes.*3

Since is it is now almost at the end of 2011, I would like to end this newsletter with a famous Buddhist story.  When Buddha was a young man still straining to seek out the truth, he went to a high mountain (the Himalayas) where he met a ferocious demon that ate human flesh.  The demon was reciting holy verses.  Young Buddha was given the first half about all things were impermanent and the truth was the cause of suffering.  In order to hear the second half, the demon demanded that young Buddha threw himself from a cliff so he could eat him. Young Buddha obliged and was given the second half about an obliteration of endless cycle of life and death was the way to non-suffering, nirvana.  Upon hear this, young Buddha went up a cliff and fell.  But the demon was actually Indra in disguise, caught him in the air, and brought him down to the ground.  Upon confirming the seriousness of young Buddha, Indra bowed and asked to be illuminated.

    諸行無常         是生滅法

   生滅滅已         寂滅為楽                  『大般涅槃経』 Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra

All existence is in a state of flux:  impermanence.

The endless cycle of birth (life) and extinction (death) is the law (truth, view) = suffering

Obliterate the endless cycle (no life, no death),

The obliteration is nirvana:  non-suffering

Note:

It is not that we suffer because the flux exists.  Suffering rises from our perception (or belief) that the permanence exists (a bondage).

Namaste, and have a great new year!

*1  Of course, quantum physics has many dimensions.

*2  Fear shows up mostly in the neck and the shoulder.  Anger shows up in the lower back.

*3  Certain foods such as diakon have a large amount of digestive enzymes.

© 2011 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC

Spleen: Worry, Harmony, and Illumination #5 （日本鍼灸 アリゾナ）

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona

Volume 3, No. 5:  Dec., 2011

Japanese Acupuncture (480) 246-0624

600 N. 4^th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Happy Holidays To Everyone

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

Chapter Three

Spleen:  Worry, Harmony, and Illumination  #5

The Spleen Element is in the center and its emotional component is worry.  When worry goes down to the kidneys, it becomes fear.  When it passes through the diaphragm and entered the lungs, it becomes sadness, and when it enters the heart, it turns to joy*1.  The Spleen controls digestive issues, if its functions are weak, it does not help the liver and worry becomes depression and could become paranoia.  Caroline Myss talks about the chakra system in which she says it is easy for the wisdom to get stuck in the throat chakra and therefore the heart desire does not communicate with the brain.  How many times do we experience what we say through the mouth turns out to be exactly opposite of what heart desire tells us?  When worry successfully passes through the diaphragm, meaning you know how to breathe right, like the yoga breathing technique, it enters the heart and turns to joy.  When there is joy in the heart, emotions become wisdom; only then, the brain will follow the heart desire.  We are grounded.  We speak the truth (without lying to ourselves).

Our problems reside in not knowing who we really are.  Our brain is constantly lying or denying and thoughts always betraying (remember from my past newsletters, all emotions are illusion and thoughts only give us the endless thoughts), and we suffer.  How to rise above?  Know the sentence after “I am…”  I am “what?”  Make a couple of sentences you feel right about yourself.  For example: I am a good man.  I am an honest man.  I am the best teacher, etc.  When you practice the simple exercise everyday and every moment, our subconscious has no other choices but to make you who you are.  One important thing is that the sentence has to be in the present tense.  Will and was would never work.  You must address in the present tense (where do you think the Power of Now comes from?).  Many of you know that this is exactly how hypnosis works.  Presenting a false statement in the present tense and making it real.  If you follow the logic, anything is possible:  there is always hope.

As for Oriental Medicine, placing one’s Self back in the right place starts with a treatment of the digestive system.  My style of acupuncture calls for reduction of pains in the abdomen first.  Pain in the abdomen is a diagnostic tool many Japanese masters have followed*2.  Persons with diabetes, GERD, IBS, Crohn’s Disease, celiac disease, and other digestive problems must be treated with the Spleen/Stomach meridians (of course, LI/SI meridians are good, too).  However, as I wrote in the last newsletter, treating just the Spleen and the Kidney suffices in many occasions*3.

Remember, when worry takes over you, learn how to breathe, let go the emotion, pay more attention to the sky and trees, and surrender.   Sometime (most of the time for me), it is better to let the Universe takes care of you.  Attune to it, and you are just fine.  When you start feeling like you are guided, you are on the right road.

Namaste.

*1:  In Oriental Medicine, the Heart itself does not ever go dysfunctional (it is the peripheral such as the pericardium which becomes impaired), therefore, it is the only Element that has a positive emotional attribute. But keep in mind, if too much joy, it becomes delusional and manic.

*2:  Popular among the Japanese practitioners are the abdominal and the pulse diagnoses. 

*3:  I yet to prove this point firmly by more of my own treatments.

© 2011 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC

Japanese Acupuncture, Phoenix, Arizona （日本鍼灸アリゾナ）

Flu Season Is Upon Us

Here are tips to prevent catching cold & flu.

Start preparing in the month of September.  Preparing in October when people around you are already sick is too late.  Remember, we catch cold either from the feet or from the neck.  Slight sensation of cold air at the feet or the neck is the sign that pathogen is entering your body system.  Keep your feet and neck warm.  Stop wearing sandals and flip-flops.  Start wearing socks and shoes.  Be aware of other signs such as slight headache, chills, coughs, body aches, and yellow-green mucus.

Drink more fluids, especially alkalized water.  Eat balanced diet with green leafy vegetables.  Take extra supplements such as Vitamin C.  Reduce alcohol consumptions.  Alcohol seriously compromises the immune system.  When you drink alcohol, remember to drink three times as much water soon after.

Sleep well.  Sleep extra hours in winter.  Preserve your energy:  not exercising to exhaustion and do not sweat too much.

Be careful when you transit from one environment to another.  For example getting up from bed to cool morning air, or after getting out of hot shower.  If you feel chills, you are catching cold.

Avoid large gatherings.  If someone blows breathe to your face, you will get sick.  Avoid smoking and toxic environment.

Early detection and prevention is crucial.  Remember, when pathogen goes through the diaphragm, it is too late:  meaning, if you have a diarrhea, stomachache, or fever, then it will take a long time to recover.  Go and see a doctor.  However, if treated early, you will develop an immune system for the season, and you will be free of cold and flu unless a different strand comes to our city.

Japanese Acupuncture, LLC   copyright 2011

Japanese Acupuncture, Phoenix, Arizona （日本鍼灸アリゾナ）

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona

Volume 3, No. 4:  Aug, 2011

Japanese Acupuncture (480) 246-0624

600 N. 4^th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Article From New York Times     August 9, 2011

A Campaign to Carry Pregnancies to Term by Jane E. Brody

The article writes, “as many as 36 % of elective deliveries now occur before 39 weeks, and many of these early deliveries are contributing to an unacceptable number of premature births and avoidable costly complications…those delivered at 36 to 38 weeks had two and a half times the number of complications compared to those delivered at 39 to 40 weeks…respiratory distress, jaundice and low blood sugar.”

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

Chapter Three

Spleen:  Worry, Harmony, and Illumination  #4

As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I found many Americans, especially women, to be Spleen Deficient.  Below is the basic Five Element Theory on the Spleen Element for you to understand the type.

Element:              Earth

Season:                in between seasons:  late summer

Direction:            center

Color:                  yellow

Sense:                  lips/mouth

Tissues:               muscle/flesh

Smell:                  fragrant

Taste:                   sweet

Emotion:             worry

Voice:                  singing

Action:                sitting

Liquid:                saliva (drooling) (spitting is the Kidney 
                            Element)

Weather:              damp

Spirit:                  intention (and intelligence)                       

A Spleen type person*1 tends to wear yellow clothes*2, likes yellow color foods, smells nice, and sometimes humming.  But may have a yellow skin tone, weak stomach and digestive functions.  Loves to eat, especially sweets and meats.  Tends to be overweight (could be picky about foods) and sits a lot.  Can withstand damp weather.  Has good intention and is grounded, but worries a lot.  Sometimes, a poor decision maker, not so strong willed.  Easy to develop neuralgia.  Could be sexually excessive, and may need to refrain from sex for longevity.  If the Liver is excess, becomes nervous and irritated.*3

*1:  in general

*2:  in the subconsciousness

*3:  IBS, Crohn disease, etc.

Keep in mind, it is a generalization.  However, the Five Element is quite useful in treatments of acupuncture.  Indeed, if a person is really Spleen Deficient or Excess, his skin tone is yellow, has flabby muscles and digestive problems. 

One quality I admire about a Spleen type is the trait that can manage all the other four types.  He can get along well with everyone (the Element in the center).  Sometimes, he is not even fazed by anger emanated by a person like me, a Wood type.  His character is more rounded in personality, not edgy.  There is a sense of serenity around him:  easy to be friend with, and easy to speak to. 

Yet, constant worry gives him digestive problems. When he does not have them, his intention is clear and his intelligence radiates.  He becomes a traffic controller in the middle of an intersection, confidently directing what must be done.  How does he get out of difficulties and how does he achieve his full potential?

Once again I need to remind readers that worry is an emotion, therefore, it is a thought pattern:  a chain of thoughts that leads to endless thoughts.  The merry-go-round in the mind must stop by realizing that all emotions are illusions, and they come and go.  Observe emotions rise and fall, and you realize that every time worry is subsided is the time you thought about something positive.  Ok, even a positive thought is a thought that has an endless cycle too*4, but at least, you know how to counter balance the worrying cycle.  First defense against worry is to be positive and to feel great.  Purge negative emotions and thoughts.  One of my clients said to me once:  “god's gifts have many different forms.”  If it is a bad day, think of it as a god’s*5 gift in a different form:  a word “bad” is a thought, and therefore, is always relative.*6

Another way to avoid worry is to be creative.  Set a goal and allow the stream-of-consciousness takes its own course.  When you are faced with a canvas, a mold for sculpture, or a musical instrument, every step you take to create is a decision-making.  Creativeness is in the “doing” not in the “trying.*7”  Trust the stream-of-consciousness*8:  there is no worry to be worried about.  Let go, and enjoy creative life.

Third way is to trust tomorrow.  Future is always uncertain.  The best we can do is to trust.  Future has nothing to do with worrying about finance or relationship.  It just comes.  Live in the moment today, and let the future comes to you.  If you do something right today, there is something right tomorrow:  trust me, this is how future works.

Fourth way is more practical:  eat right.  If you are eating heavy cheese, greasy, fried,  salty, and overly sweet foods, yes, you do get depression and anxiety.  Cut down on foods that make you sick by stagnation.*9  A Spleen type has problem with weight, and needs to be careful and aware of what he eats, and he tends to sit a lot, so, do some exercises.

As for practicality of acupuncture treatment, I am amazed that treating the Spleen, the center, indeed, is good for almost everything.  It has become my focal point on the back of the body.  Master Sawada said that all diseases pass through the diaphragm, go to the Liver, then to the Spleen, and end up at the Kidney.*10  Idea is to treat in the reverse order and everything would get better:  placing priorities to the Spleen and the Kidney*11 to cure all diseases, and it works! (There is an order to the treatment, however)  More I practice, deeper I bow to former practitioners and ancient Chinese masters. 

Namaste.

*4:   Giddy to weird

*5:   I am not a Christian, but, by “god,” I mean the Universal Love, 
        or I can also call it It.  I am more of a Zen-ist but do not belong to 
        Zen or to Buddhism.

*6:   Wished that we were taught how to cope with emotions in our schools 
        as basic education.

*7:   All Zen art works are just that!

*8:   In the context of this newsletter, “trying” is “worrying.”:  
        you worry, therefore, no “doing.”

*9:   As many of you already know, cheese is a phlegm and highly acidic 
        and stagnant food.  It (phlegm) creates “1000 weird diseases” according 
        to the Chinese classic.

*10:  For the fist time reader:  all organs are capitalized to distinguish from 
         the western medicine.  Their functions are slightly different.

*11:  The Spleen is Intention and the Kidney is Will, together, they generate 
         Wisdom and Intelligence.

                   

一霊有万霊　        一霊顕万霊                        万霊帰一霊

一魂有万霊            一魂顕万霊                        万霊帰一魂

霊魂是神

Indirect Translation:

Within the One Spirit, there are Ten Thousand.  Ten Thousand Spirits return to the One.

(A living cell has tens of thousands of elements and has the power to mobilize them.  A living cell reflects all intentions and thoughts of a person and is influenced by them.  Within a single living cell, the wholeness of a person resides.  By Master Shirota)

© 2011 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC

Welcome New Members

Japanese Acupuncture, Phoenix, Arizona （日本鍼灸アリゾナ）

 August 11, 2011

Welcome New Members

In the past few weeks, quite a few of you become members and I thank you.  I plan to give more benefits for members as we go along.  Please read the bottom page for this month special.

About Acupuncture:

In the simplest term to describe how acupuncture works and why it works is that:

1)  All living cells strive to be balanced.  They always (every minute and every second) want to be healthy.* The human body developed an elaborate system such as the endocrine and the immune systems to balance, to be in homeostasis.  Acupuncture restores the balance, and this is the primary reason why an acupuncturist treats the whole body rather than aiming for a segmented, specialized approach common in western medicine.

2)  Hairs and nails will grow until death.  We have the healing power within to regenerate until we decide to go.  Doctors still do not know the source of the regenerative power and are unable to tap into it.  Qi (in Chinese, Ki in Japanese) is the Life Force Energy.   Where and how does this happen?  It is written in the Chinese classic text written 2000 years ago.  “The Mist of the Lungs (oxygen) combined with the Gu Qi (food energy – carbon/carbohydrates) which is produced by the Spleen (and the Stomach) to become the Blood.”  Blood and Qi must flow.  All diseases are caused by a stagnation of the Two.  The stagnation manifests along an acupuncture line called the meridian (like the foot reflexology). Acupuncture restores the flow and maintains the balance of the two energies by treating the lines.  As long as the Two flows properly, we have a stronger power to regenerate cells.**

Suggestion:

Try not to be your own doctor.  Do not assess a prognosis by yourself.  Once in a while, ask me how many sessions you need.  Most of the time, when people assess themselves, they end up prolonging symptoms and not getting healthier.  Concentrate now.  You will get better and healthier in the least amount of time, and in a long run, you will save money.

Special Of The Month For Members Only (Ends on August 31, 2011)

30% off from regular price of Ba Wei Di Huang Wan (H-07), the kidney Chinese formula:  regularly $32, 30% off = 22.40 + tax = $24.48

Benefits of this formula: any kidney/bladder ailment, diabetes, edema, vertigo, tinnitus, night sweat, cold hand/cold feet, cataract, Alzheimer, ED, low libido, etc.

I recommend anyone over the age of 40.  Aging is the weakening functions of the kidneys.  Order and pick up at the time of your appointment.

(Next Month:  alkalizing droplets by TriMedica)

*This is deep down in the cellular level. Each cell has memories.  If you doubt it, ask any organ transplanted person.  They can tell you stories of the past which were the donor’s history.

**Yes, meniscus disk eventually be regenerated (we use knees everyday, so wearing is greater but it does not mean we need to live with pain forever).  Yes, spine is also regenerate.  Degenerative disease is, to me, just a word.  Aging is about degeneration.  We are loosing proteins and are aging but we do regenerate at the same time.

Japanese Acupuncture, Phoenix, Arizona （日本鍼灸アリゾナ）

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona

Volume 3, No. 3:  June, 2011

Japanese Acupuncture (480) 246-0624

600 N. 4^th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Note From Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2011:  

McDonald's Under Pressure to Fire Ronald by Julie Jargon

"More than 550 health professionals and organizations have signed a letter to McDonald's Corp. asking the maker of Happy Meals to stop marketing junk food to kids and retire Ronald McDonald...The letter from the health providers urges McDonald's to cease marketing food high in salt, fat, sugar and calories to kids, from the use of Ronald McDonald to Happy Meal toys."  I think it is about time we demand corporate responsibility in creating a healthy diet.

Reminder:

As a member, you receive 25% off from any product by Natural Partners (www.naturalpartners.com) and TriMedica (www.trimedica.com) from us.  Sorry, no shipping.  You need to pick them up at our clinic.

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

Chapter Three

Spleen:  Worry, Harmony, and Illumination  #3

I love myself,

I love you.

I love you,

I love myself.

                   Rumi

The above poem is close to the following zen poem:

The cool wind gently blows through my mind,

No matter what happens.

No matter what happens,

The cool wind gently blows through my mind.

                                                            Ummon

Mara, the Devil or the Death, who confronted the Buddha is the metaphor of "conditioned" existence we all live.  We suffer because we are conditioned to attach ourselves to emotions.  It is the ego of "I" telling us this is how and why we exist (so, we've been "told.").  Joseph Campbell writes:  "Death can't touch you if there is nothing you desire.  So the Lord of 'I' presents himself to the Buddha in the aspect of Mara, …Unfortunate for them, there is nobody there, so when these weapons reach this field of nobody being there, they are transformed into bouquets of adoration."  Jesus had to go through the similar temptations.  What do we do with endless desire, temptation, death, lust and fear?  The Buddha touches the Earth with his fingers, achieves illumination.

Acupuncture's power is not in reducing pain (although it is an extremely efficient tool) or in stop smoking.  These are rather tertiary compare to its power to heal emotions and to nurture spirituality.  Its purpose is to open the Third Eye, moving the energy to the sahasrara, the seventh chakra.  It is an instrument as a yana, a ferry boat to reach the other shore of enlightenment.

For the purpose, my style requires to reduce pain by acupuncture needles as much as possible (my mentor once said:  "if it is painful, it is not acupuncture.").  Induction of pain is not about achieving or bringing about Qi, the life force energy.*  Acupuncture is far more subtle than giving pain and thinking it is good for people.

I have found that most American women are Spleen deficient.  Obesity, IBS, celiac disease, diabetes, hypothyroidism, all fall into the category.  When their symptoms are combined, especially with adrenal imbalance, their whole body becomes pain sensitive.  In some cases, they could be under severe stress and depression.  Yet, the Spleen is the one to harmonize all.   For example, the Liver Element I wrote about in past newsletters is greatly helped by the Spleen.  In fact, to balance the right side and the left side of the body, harmony between the Liver and the Spleen is essential (which leads to the Heart and the Kidney balance – the upper and the lower).

How do we then change the negative aspect of the Element, which is worry, into the positive aspect, harmony?  The way to do it is when worry comes in start loving ourselves.  We need to affirm that we love ourselves and are comfortable with what we are and who we are.  Accept, as I have mentioned many times before, that things are As-Is at the moment of Now.  The affirmation becomes self-confidence, and we achieve illumination of self-realization that is totally free from emotion, judgment, temptation, desire, and even death:  "Cool wind gently blows through my mind."

Acupuncture gently redirects your thought energy to be free from worry because its fundamental purpose is to balance and harmonize the body and the mind.  The Spleen** connects crucially to the Heart Element, mainly to the PC (pericardium).  The PC is more closely connected to spirituality and the Heart is connection to the function of the heart.  For example, if it is depression, take the Spleen points, and if it is an irregular heartbeat, take the Heart points.***  Lastly, the Spleen pairs with the Stomach, therefore, harmonizing the digestive system is utmost importance in balancing the Element.

Start loving yourself.  If you do not and don't know how to love others, you will have hard time understanding my next chapter, the Lung Element, which connects with sadness.

*However, when I need to disperse energy, slight sting would be induced.

**The Spleen Element is considered to be a small heart within the heart.

***Of course, other practitioners have different opinions.

© 2011 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC

Japanese Acupuncture, Phoenix, Arizona （日本鍼灸アリゾナ）

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona

Volume 3, No. 2:  February, 2011

Japanese Acupuncture (480) 246-0624

600 N. 4^th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Dear Friends,

Please do not forget to tell people suffering from cancer that I am having a special session on each Sunday in March, 2011, from noon to 6 pm.  I know I can help them.  Let them know. 

Thank you.  Frank

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

  

Chapter Three

Spleen:  Worry, Harmony, and Illumination  #2

"Every thought creates a story."*  Our identity is determined by thoughts of the past arising in the present moment.  We are incessant about the psychological identification to be “I or Me.”  Therefore “I or Me” has full of stories to tell.  What we think as a person is made up with a concept of endless thoughts.  As everyone knows that Rene Descartes’ famous words were:  “I think, therefore I am.” (Cogito ergo sum).  If we discard all five senses, what we are left with is an identification of one’s self that is thinking.  Nobody can take away our thoughts and ideals even we are in jail. 

However, unfortunately thing about thought is that it is an illusion.*1  It comes and goes constantly.  It is ever changing and intangible.   Thought is also dualistic, for example love and hate, anger and happiness.  Tragedy is that since we are so dwelled on thoughts, we forget that it is the thought doing the interpretation of “I or Me.”  Most of us, most of the time, we do not realize the illusionary cycle and we suffer by attaching “I or Me” to thoughts, not knowing who we really are.  When we are calm, we know that past and future are simply presently-arising thoughts, then we know that the awareness of being is here and now regardless of thoughts.  Take away all your thoughts, (Remember, Descartes took away all five senses but thought) what you are left with is the undeniable awareness that you exist at the moment of now. *2  When we become aware of the Awareness, we can replace the Descartes words with “I Being, therefore Being.”  No thoughts necessary.  Thought does not see, only awareness does.  When we become aware of true being, we can liberate ourselves from endless interpretation of “I or Me,” and see the true self in the real light, which is endless (universal) love and compassion, and freedom from pain and suffering.

We often mistakenly believe that the end of our suffering comes from further thinking.  However, what we are really seeking is the end of seeking itself.  Whys, hows, and what-to-dos are all ego driven way of resolving conflicts arising in the chain of thoughts.  By doing so, we are deceiving and lying to ourselves by creating stories that are not true.  The process creates suffering within ourselves and with the others.  Many relationships go down this road and many times we repeat the same process over and over.  Enlightenment is knowing what we already are.  Away from endless story telling, but accepting and knowing that no “I or Me” is doing the seeking.  There is no us to be enlightened:  we simply already are.  Awareness sees thought and emotion rising, but not attached to them.  Awareness is free of thought, time, and dualism.  Awareness is simply Is.  Take away all our senses and even thoughts, and we know this is to be true. 

People come to see me for pain and attachment to pain.  May it be lower back pain or anxiety depression, there are many people who are suffering.  How do we make them to reach the other shore of non-suffering?  It is a very difficult task, but as I mentioned in my last newsletter, that a proper function of the digestive system must be attained to bring the self in the body (remember, the Earth Element function is to bring the body into harmony).  In order to bring out the strong self- awareness, I have recently started to think that the PC (pericardium), the Heart, and the Lungs are effective.  My readers would know that the combination of the PC and the Liver or the PC and the Spleen are great pairs.  The combination of the Lungs and the Liver would give more energy. 

I would like to end this page with a customary Chinese poem.  Chen Zi Ang was a soldier.  I believe he was in the moment when he came across a vast and barren landscape which overwhelmed him with the awareness of being rather than sad about a circumstance.  It is, to me, a very bold poem to be alive and free, in the moment, as you can read the first two lines.

            No one from the past in front of me

            No one from the future in back of me

            In the vast landscape, understanding the grief (his  

              circumstance) of the heaven and the earth (nature)

            I, alone, indistinct, …tears dropping

         前不見古人

         後不見来者

         念天地之愁愁

         独蒼然而涕下

                陳子昂（Chen Zi Ang)

*1:  Time is thought, an illusion:  we cannot touch past or future except through thinking.  A Buddhist monk will always tell you to go beyond time and space.

*2:  Baruch Spinoza:  “By substance, I understand that which exists in itself, and is conceived by itself, that which does not need the conception of any other thing in order to be conceived.”

*:  from the book, "Reflections of the One Life" by Scott Kiloby

© 2011 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC

Japanese Acupuncture, Phoenix, Arizona (日本鍼灸アリゾナ）

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona

Volume 3, No. 1:  January, 2011

Japanese Acupuncture (480) 246-0624

600 N. 4^th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

  

Chapter Three

Spleen:  Worry, Harmony, and Illumination  #1

In a Buddhist mandala, the Buddha of the East is Aksobhya who represents the integrity of illuminating experience.  The Buddha of the South is Ratnasambhava who represents the radiance of beauty of illumination.  The Buddha of the West is Amitabha who is the symbol of great compassion.  The Buddha of the North is Amoghasiddhi who represents directed effort.  Vairocana, the Illuminator, sits in the center. Together, the mandala points to the way of releasing fear and desire and to harmonize our individual life. 

In Five Element Theory, the Spleen Element, also called the Earth Element*1, contains the Stomach and the Spleen.  Implication of the Earth Element is quite important since the acupuncture meridian line starts from the center of the Stomach.  Most acupuncturists belong to the Stomach School which regards the digestive system is the key to balance the other Elements and the whole body.  The last words of Master Nagano in Japan were I-no-Ki (胃の気:  Wei-Qi in Chinese).  Master Sawada dedicated Ren-12 (the point directly above the stomach) as the primary protocol treatment point.  Settlement of Stomach Qi is for all ailments.  Without proper stomach functions, there will be no recovery.  For example, weak absorption rate of foods makes us susceptible to many illnesses. Proper digestive functions must be restored and the process must start from the Stomach.  When the Stomach is restored, the energy moves and settles at the Dantien (丹田), about an inch below the navel.  This is an important physiological fact that not only acupuncturists should understand but all of us.  Anyone who practices martial arts, Tai-Qi, yoga, or meditation knows that the area of the lower abdomen is the center of concentrated energy.  The life force comes from here, and the skin tone of the area must be taut and supple.  Softness, droopiness, and weakness of the area indicate a weak body function and a sickness (life span maybe limited in a certain case).

Regarding major acupuncture points on the center of the abdomen, Ren-4, 6 and 12 (plus Ren-10 and Ren-13), Master Sawada said when we “Open” the area, “it becomes San Jiao, and (properly) Store, it becomes the Three Guans. *2”  The sentence only comes from an experienced practitioner who has practiced the art of acupuncture for years.  You may not understand what I write here, but the center of the abdomen is quite important in treating people, especially for the Tai Qi Treatment (whole body treatment).  Like the real estate slogan, “location, location, location,” the same is said of acupuncture:  stomach, stomach, and stomach (or digestion, digestion, digestion). Arguably, the Stomach is the center of Five Element and it is the harmonic Element.

As the name of the Element suggests an Earth personality is grounded and gentle.  However, an Earth type is susceptible to worry.  We all experience, a second after we start to worry, we feel queasiness in our stomach.  As if our thought in the brain has a direct connection to the stomach.*3　　Emotion and illness are inseparable, and attachment to worry will result in a chronic digestive problem. 

How we detach ourselves from emotions and bring the whole body in balance is the subject of this chapter.  It is interesting to know that Buddha had a chronic digestive issue, yet he attained illumination and realization.　　Let us hope we can all do the same.

*1 Earth Element:  the paired combination of Spleen and Stomach Elements.  It is said in a certain school, when a baby drinks the first milk from mother, the meridian lines start to function from the moment on.

*2:  開けば三焦、納むれば三完

*3:  I believe western science is considering the stomach or the intestine as the second brain.

© 2011 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC